Potted plant container



April 24, -1951 w, F, ROTHE 2,550,602

l POTTED PLANT CONTAINER Filed June 27, 1947 INVENTOR F Rot/;

. 'ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 24, 1951 rant oFF-res for"propenfregulationmofr irrigation, gain supplyy amdisulllightfto provideftforf.proper.` growth cor'-v relationsffof: different-varietiesffof plantsy-so as-i tozvproducefwel-l-- developed" and `proportioned plants. For: example; somef plants require: more moisture: and some require, less.l moisture but m'orefaifrs andilight; Thus;it isknown toobtain the: fxnostfeflicientf. results' with potted plants; its is:,important to have' containers' which supplyproperamountsfot Water, air and light-7, Ac cording-ln,an:4 object or?. this invention is` to de-I- velop a plant container which-may.- beregulated:- to.- supply,` approximatelyvv proper. amounts of water-- ,ainandtlght to` promote` plant growth.

and?. developmentrv Another.. object is toprovide a. flower. or .planticontainer. adaptedto adjustablyi.r control. asupr ply" ofair. to the`y roots of the plantA growing. therein.

A 'furtherxobject is to .provide a plant con-v tainer 'sashaped andso; proportioned as to encouragew tliej normal' spreading growth' ofthe.' roots of'tlier'planti growing, tlierein:

A furtherob'ject" is 'to *provide* in a` plant container, the combination offan' adjustable air supply; awater 'supply' and" light supplwsystern` for potted Lplants.`ly4

Still? another objectl isL toi provide van.` improved' flower pot for growingf plants 1 formed' fromA plastics flhaving" ati least a portion of? itsv bodyf being z' offxtransparentmaterialg; such: asl glass: or. acrylic resins: or .the'f like, to4 admit: light*A to the topf` off. the? soil around the plantay Thea above: and other.: objects and; advantages of the present: 'inventioncwilli. appearmore? fully; hereinafter; fron'raxconsiderationf of: the-:detailed descriptiom` which; follows; takenu together; with; the; accompanying drawings wl'ierein.u one-f. emr

bodimenm uint-he invention:-isillustrated..1 Itffise toV vbe expresslyunder-stood however;l thatstheidrawings are for the-purposeeof illustrationvonlys andare/not intended as a denition'ofthe limitsA of thewinvention;

Inl the drawings; Y Whereinv, likes-reference char acters y refer: to IiKerpartsthrOug-hOut i the several.

views: Y

, Figo.. 1I is; a. side elevational. vievvpft oneernbodiy ment; of: t'he'present-4 inventione assembled;

Fig. 21 is ia., cross sectional view ofT thevirrigatingf, portion or lower water. holdingbowl of; the.` device;

lig.v 3- is a. vertical. cross sectional view of the plant. and` soil holdingA portionofV thedevice;v`

Fig. 4 isyabottom..4 planview of'y the plant soil. holding. portion; and

5.v is a-fragxnentarnA crossesection. view. of. the nipple: portion-i4 of the water. bowl showing a washer adaptedI toelevate the. upper soil con- 'tainer to thusl provide vertical adjustment.

Referring-.to theu drawingv in detail, there. is,

show-n: acontainer Iii.. whichv isV shaped. like.. an` inverted. hollow cone having, its larger portion4 at.- the` bottomr,v This bottomf portion is closed. by a.1ootton1 surface.. 'I'.I, andlis I. formed. with.. a centrall upwardly projecting. nipple. I2; This nipple. I 2'. is `formedgby, pushing, out. the material,

oithebottom. portion or.Y molding. the.. samev such amanner. thatitprovides a-.coni'calhollow interior chan/fuer.v with. openings. I 4 which open to. theiinterior, of' said :chamber thus formed;

. Secured wtotlie. upper rimportion of' the container IS. is a collar4 I Giwliicli ares outwardly from the top rim portion in. a funnel-shaped" manner. This: collar. lli` is made` ofj.transparent material; preferably' of a plastic' maderom. acrylic' resins, or any other' suitable material'Y adapted" to` 'admit' light to the surface of the :soile which cornes-'to the' narrowporti'on at the top' ofthe container Ill; The `container I0 mayial'sot be formed of a plastic' but it islintended note-to be transparent andYis--'fused orf-'molded to tliei collar It so as to form unitary structure. Anysuitable i designY rn ayfbefv marked? onl the container r. Illia asf-shown'fonstle-fdrawings;.to2 maketherarticle more attractive'. Also;` the containerV maybe formed .off plastics.. ofiv diierent .colors .but the` collar` Iii,V for. theJ mostspart, isi intende'dc. to be i of:

transparent' Whitewsubstan-ce.;

The container. Iii-i is adapted: tofrestyin-` afldwer bowlsportioni iii-g1Whicli-.bowlshas:a'largerv circum.- erencethan the.=.bottom Vplzutioni Ilaofx the cont-l tainerf. This-bowl portionis. provided with/a bottomfil which.l hasfa similar. upwardly extende-J ingnipplez Zitofthatfo .thecontainer. This nipple;

22 is formed by pushing or molding the same from the material of the bottom, in a manner similar to that described in connection with the `bottom of the container I0. The nipple 22 is provided with openings 24 corresponding to the openings I4 in the nipple I2 of the container Il). Thus, when the container I is mounted over the lower bowl I8, the nipples interengage or nest, one within the other, and the corresponding holes of each nipple may be registered with each other.

The purpose of the openings I4 and 24 is to provide means for admitting air into the soil confined within the container I0. This admission of air may be controlled by adjustment of one container with respect to the other, that is, by

Vturning the container il! to provide for greater or smaller registry of the openings with each other. Also, if desired, the containers may be turned relative to each other so that the openings are closed off completely, or, as shown in Fig. 5, vertical adjustment is possible by adding washers I9 to the top of the nipple 22. The bottom of the container i8 is concave from the center nipple portion to its side wall 26 and the concave bottom portion may be provided with spaced arcuate ribs 28, if desired. These ribs and the general shape of the bottom portion of the lower bowl I8Y maintain the container iii slightly elevatedfrom the main bottom surface of the bowl, which bowl is usually maintained partially filled with water below the level of the air openings I4 and 24.

Around the bottom rim of the container lil, near its outer circumference, are a plurality of openings 3B. These openings 30, due to the peculiar shape of the bottom bowl, are adapted to receive some of the water and thereby supply the necessary moisture to theV soil in container IE5.

Without further description, it is thought that the advantages and functions of the plant container should be apparent. However, to briefly summarize the several functions of the device, let us assume that there is a plant growing in the container i0, with its roots branching forth in all directions toward the bottom of the container. With this inverted funnel-shaped container, these roots are permitted to diverge outwardly as they grow toward the bottom ofthe container and thereby they do not become massed and entangled as in the usual ower pot, for example. The bottom bowl portion which mounts the container I 0, is maintained partially full of water and feeds moisture up through the openings 30 to the soil around the roots of the plant. Simultaneously with the constant supply of moisture the collar i 6 provides for the proper light to enter to the soil around the stem of the plant and also this collar I serves to prevent overow of any watering which may be done from the top of plant. It is necessary on occasions to water the plant from the top in order to moisten the entire body of the soil.

Certain types of plants require considerable aeration of the soil for efficient growing results; while others need less air. Therefore, a system has been devised for providing aeration of the soil in varying degrees. Accordingly, when there is a plant growing in the container I0 requiring considerable air, the container i0 is rotated so as to fully register its openings I4 with the openings 24 of the lower bowl I3. With such an arrangement, air may enter under the -container I0 which as previously stated, is slightly raised above the bottom 20 of the lower bowl through the registering openings and upward into the body of the soil in the container Ill. On the other hand, when there is a plant growing in the container I8 requiring less air, a turning of the said container will reduce the amount of the registering openings 44 and 2li and thereby admit smaller quantities of air for supplying oxygen and nitrogen to the soil.

Thus, I have provided a novel plant growing system by the provision of a novel container combination, which is adapted to supply a maximum growing area for the roots of a plant, as well as a necessary quantity of light, air and water to promate and correlate the growth thereof.

While pottery or other porous material may be used to form the present invention containers, it is a decided advantage in most instances to use plastic to form the same, as plastic is less likely to break, and therefore, more economical for use in greenhouses where hundreds of pottery containers are constantly being broken.

Although one embodiment of my invention has beenV illustrated and described in detail, it is to be expressly understood that the same is not limited theerto, as various changes may be made in the design and arrangement of the parts illustrated, as will now appear to those skilled in the art. For a denition of the scope or limits of the invention, reference should be had to the from the bottom of said upper container, and a' second hollow nipple formed with a similar group of air feed openings extending upwardly from the bottom of said lower container into the hollow bore 0f the first-mentioned nipple, whereby the said air openings of each nipple are registrable with each other in a plane above the water level in said lower container.

2. A container arrangement for irrigating and aerating growing plants, comprising a lower water holding container and an upper soil and plant holding container, a plurality of water feed openings formed in the bottom of the upper container and normally located below the water level of said lower container when the container is at least partially lled, a hollow nipple formed with a group of air feed openings extending upwardly from the bottom of said upper container, and a second hollow nipple formed with a similar group of air feed openings extending upwardly from the bottom of said lower container into the hollow bore of the first-mentioned nipple, whereby thev said air openings of each nipple are registrable with each other in a plane above the water level in said lower container, and spaced rib members formed from the interior bottom surface of said water holding container adapted to maintain said water feed openings in said upper container elevated to provide for free feed of water therethrough into the said upper container.

3. A container arrangement for irrigating and aerating growing plants, comprising a lower water holding container and an upper soil and plant holding container, a plurality of water feed open from the bottom of said upper container, `a, second Number Name Date hollow nipple formed with a similar group of air 296,028 Martin Apr, 1, 1884 feed openings extending upwardly from the bot- 1,710,878 Kelso Apr. 30, 1929 tom of said lower container into the hollow bore 1,775,831 Salisbury Sept. 16, 1930 of the first-mentioned nipple, 'whereby the said l0 1,815,676 Medveczky July 21, 1931 air openings of each nipple'are registrable with each other in a, plane above the Water level in FOREIGN PATENTS said lower container, and a washer member Number Country Date mounted between said nipples adapted to prop- 9,433 Great Britain 1384 6 ings formed in the bottom of the upper Icontainer REFERENCES CITED and normally located below the Water level of The following references are of record in the said lower container when the container is at me of this patent:

least partially lled, a hollow nipple formed with a group of air feed openings extending upwardly 5, UNITED STATES PATENTS erly locate the air feed openings of each nipple. x5

WALTER F. ROTHE. 

